Part II Jonah – The Disobedient Prophet Chapter 1

In our introductory remarks on this thrilling and lessons induced book, the book of Jonah, we were acquainted with a renowned, yet reluctant, prophet from Gathhepher, a small town in Galilee.  He was called and commissioned to preach unto the cruel and atrocious city of Ninevah, the capital of the Assryrian Empire.  We were introduced to the fact that the Assryrians were very barbaric and relentless in their behavior, often noted to take their victims of war and flay them, leaving them hanging on poles as the Assryians displayed their conquest in wars.  Knowing about the vicious behaviour of the Assryrians, Jonah didn’t want the assignment God meted out, and decided that the assignment was too arduous, yea difficult, so he decided to run from his responsibility.  Jonah did not have a genuine love for the Assryians, and he didn’t want to be branded as a traitor to the Nation Israel.  Jonah knew that God was a God of mercy, and that if the Assryrians would repent, God would relent in destroying the city.

In chapter 1:1-2, we see that God issues the command to Jonah to preach unto the wicked people of Assryria.  Nineveh was about five-hundred and fifty miles north east of Samaria.  But, instead of heading eastward, Jonah in his disobedience decided to flee from the presence of God, and headed westward to Tarshish on a ship (v.3).  One of the abounding messages of the book is that God is sovereign, and you cannot hide from Him.  In verses 4-17, we are acquainted with the consequences of Jonah’s actions.  God, who is in control of both land and sea (1:9), sent a storm upon the sea (v.4) and caused much trouble.  With the mariners being excited with fear, we find Jonah, insensitive to what is going on, asleep.  When you are out of the will of God, you are insensitive to your surroundings; yes, you simply don’t care!  That thought leads me to ask this poignant questions:  “How sensitive are we to the spiritual plight of the masses of people unsaved today?  Are we genuinely interested in their spiritual condition?  Let us begin to pray to God right now and ask Him to give us a heart sensitive enough to share the message of God’s saving grace.  We occupy the very message that the world needs.

There is a great sense of irony in this great book.  The mariner, obsessed with fright, called on their gods, but Jonah didn’t call on his God (1:5-6).  When you are out of His will, you become prayer-less saints.  Another salient point of this book is that when out of His will, we cause all kind of havoc upon those around us.  After questioning Jonah, which he never told them that he was a prophet, and after casting lots, they finally threw Jonah overboard, and the storm upon the sea subsided (vv.12-15).  Now, the prophet who forsook the will of God, is now in the sea.  And God has an animal that obeys Him and will transport Jonah for three days and nights.  Isn’t that ironic?  The whale obeys God, but Jonah doesn’t.  God had to incarcerate His disobedient child until he gets the lesson.  In conclusion, God often has to arrest and stop us in our many quest of disobedience in order to get our attention.  We cannot run away from God; we just as well run to Him!  We will look at Chapter 2 on next week when Jonah, in the belly of the whale, became a devotional prophet.  In Chapter 1, his disobedience brought him downward (1:3, 5, 15, 17).  He who was disobedient, is now devotional.  The Lord knows how to get us to pray.  God Bless!